Bowler Hat Differences

[Heart Felt]

Older ones will be more stiff. It can be difficult to stretch Stiff Felts. Do you have any photos? Also a photo of the paper label behind the sweatband?

 

[Heart Felt]

Older ones will be more stiff. It can be difficult to stretch Stiff Felts. Do you have any photos? Also a photo of the paper label behind the sweatband?

Bhhh

 

[Heart Felt]

View attachment 249776 View attachment 249777 View attachment 249778 View attachment 249779 View attachment 249780 Bhhh View attachment 249781 View attachment 249782

Hello. Thanks for the reply. I apologize for mine being late. Here are some pictures. The paper label behind the sweatband has some black material pretty much stuck to label but some of it is legible

 

[mayserwegener]

Hello. Thanks for the reply. I apologize for mine being late. Here are some pictures. The paper label behind the sweatband has some black material pretty much stuck to label but some of it is legible

Thank you for taking the photos. The size on the paper label is blocked. It's probably to the left of 7500 as viewed which is up side down (see example below). Can you peal back the black material and take a complete photo of the paper label? My guess is it's from the mid 1930s. Why do you believe it's overly stiff? By the way it looks to be in very good condition.

"W 5 56" (in this case the 56 is the real size 56 cm, French Point Size 5 is one size larger (should be 4 1/2 for 56 cm) probably based on no sweatband)

 

[Heart Felt]

Thank you for taking the photos. The size on the paper label is blocked. It's probably to the left of 7500 as viewed which is up side down (see example below). Can you peal back the black material and take a complete photo of the paper label? My guess is it's from the mid 1930s. Why do you believe it's overly stiff? By the way it looks to be in very good condition.

"W 5 56" (in this case the 56 is the real size 56 cm, French Point Size 5 is one size larger (should be 4 1/2 for 56 cm) probably based on no sweatband)

I’m going to try to peel it back and take another pic when I get home. You’re right. It’s actually in really good condition. I don’t think it’s “overly” stiff, it’s just that this is my first bowler hat and I really wasn’t aware how stiff they are in general I guess. I’m trying to stretch it (very slowly and carefully) but I fear it might be a lot more difficult to do than with a softer fedora.

 

[Heart Felt]

Thank you for taking the photos. The size on the paper label is blocked. It's probably to the left of 7500 as viewed which is up side down (see example below). Can you peal back the black material and take a complete photo of the paper label? My guess is it's from the mid 1930s. Why do you believe it's overly stiff? By the way it looks to be in very good condition.

"W 5 56" (in this case the 56 is the real size 56 cm, French Point Size 5 is one size larger (should be 4 1/2 for 56 cm) probably based on no sweatband)

I peeled it back and it looks like the size part of the label got rubbed off lol. Good news is, it’s seems to fit now when I took the stretcher out. Going to have to steam shape the brim a bit as it’s a little askew now. Thanks for chatting with about this!!

 

[mayserwegener]

I’m going to try to peel it back and take another pic when I get home. You’re right. It’s actually in really good condition. I don’t think it’s “overly” stiff, it’s just that this is my first bowler hat and I really wasn’t aware how stiff they are in general I guess. I’m trying to stretch it (very slowly and carefully) but I fear it might be a lot more difficult to do than with a softer fedora.

You need to be very careful and not stretch too much. You can try to loosen with steam (better if you have a hat steamer) around the outside band. Also soften the sweatband (if possible) with leather conditioner. As I mentioned you will see increased Brim distortion the more you stretch (also possible sweatband damage). I have found that slow incremental stretching over a very long time period works best. In this case the stretcher is kept in the Stiff Felt for up to a year or longer.

 

[M Brown]

I have a couple of bowlers...one is a stiff felt Dunlop that I had a new sweat band installed in a couple of years ago. The old Dunlop is circa 1915 and still had the original leather sweat band and liner. I took it to Peter Bros Hats in Fort Worth to have it re banded and it's got another 100 years in it now.

My other bowler is an old Stetson. Not as old as the Dunlop but a vintage/antique hat as well, original all the way and still wearable.
Both are size 7 1/2 and run true to size.

 

[Heart Felt]

Thank you for taking the photos. The size on the paper label is blocked. It's probably to the left of 7500 as viewed which is up side down (see example below). Can you peal back the black material and take a complete photo of the paper label? My guess is it's from the mid 1930s. Why do you believe it's overly stiff? By the way it looks to be in very good condition.

"W 5 56" (in this case the 56 is the real size 56 cm, French Point Size 5 is one size larger (should be 4 1/2 for 56 cm) probably based on no sweatband)

You need to be very careful and not stretch too much. You can try to loosen with steam (better if you have a hat steamer) around the outside band. Also soften the sweatband (if possible) with leather conditioner. As I mentioned you will see increased Brim distortion the more you stretch (also possible sweatband damage). I have found that slow incremental stretching over a very long time period works best. In this case the stretcher is kept in the Stiff Felt for up to a year or longer.

So I did Condition the leather. I really don’t want to damage the sweatband as it’s in terrific shape. So you suggest keeping it in the stretcher after each time I wear it?

 

[mayserwegener]

View attachment 249906 View attachment 249905

So I did Condition the leather. I really don’t want to damage the sweatband as it’s in terrific shape. So you suggest keeping it in the stretcher after each time I wear it?

Appears it could be a 55 cm so a US Size 6 7/8 so a small size. Does this make sense?

I would keep the stretcher in if you have an extra one. Set it so it's taught.

Looks great! Congrats!

 

[Heart Felt]

Appears it could be a 55 cm so a US Size 6 7/8 so a small size. Does this make sense?

I would keep the stretcher in if you have an extra one. Set it so it's taught.

Looks great! Congrats!

I’m thinking more like at least a size 7 American (if that’s the right word). I honestly take a size 7 3/8 (sometimes in between that and a 7 1/2) So I’m pretty impressed that I got it to fit me lol. Still a little snug but if I do like you say and keep it in a stretcher when not wearing it, I think it’ll be fine. I actually love it. Love hats but always wanted a bowler since the first time I watched A Clockwork Orange lol. Thanks so much for all your help. Truly

 

[mayserwegener]

I’m thinking more like at least a size 7 American (if that’s the right word). I honestly take a size 7 3/8 (sometimes in between that and a 7 1/2) So I’m pretty impressed that I got it to fit me lol. Still a little snug but if I do like you say and keep it in a stretcher when not wearing it, I think it’ll be fine. I actually love it. Love hats but always wanted a bowler since the first time I watched A Clockwork Orange lol. Thanks so much for all your help. Truly

Ea

If possibly could you take some better photos and post it in the following threads. You can see hat photo examples (front, side, bottom, liner logo, sweatband details, paper label) in the threads. Thanks!

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/johann-hückel´s-söhne-pre-1940.48472/page-17#post-2691938

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/german-austrian-hutmachers.32103/page-422

You might also want to take a look at my website. I could also post your hat here.

https://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/topic/6-johann-hückel´s-söhne-hückel-hutfabrik-weilheim/

 

[Heart Felt]

Ea

If possibly could you take some better photos and post it in the following threads. You can see hat photo examples (front, side, bottom, liner logo, sweatband details, paper label) in the threads. Thanks!

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/johann-hückel´s-söhne-pre-1940.48472/page-17#post-2691938

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/german-austrian-hutmachers.32103/page-422

You might also want to take a look at my website. I could also post your hat here.

https://germanaustrianhats.invisionzone.com/topic/6-johann-hückel´s-söhne-hückel-hutfabrik-weilheim/

Okay. So when I get home I’ll post some more detailed photos and I’ll post them to that thread. Would you just take those photos and transfer them to your website? That’d be really great!

 

[Heart Felt]

It can be dandergous trying to stretch one of the old stiff hats - the leather may be dry and break, the seam may break as well. So without careful "preparation" (softening of the leather with some dubbin etc.) I would no try this. If the problem is that the hat doesn't correspond to the shape of your head you could try to put the bowler/top hat into the oven - heat it to about 50 degrees celsius, then put it on your head and it will be soft enough to adopt the shape of your head. Wait till it has cooled down and it will fit perfectly (this is the way these hats were made to fit in the old days - provided that the size corresponded to the head).

Hmmm. I’ve never heard of anyone using an oven for this purpose. Maybe I’ll try this. I actually cannot believe how soft the leather still is in this Huckel! I definitely did condition the leather though. It’s a beautiful part of the hat

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I’m thinking more like at least a size 7 American (if that’s the right word). I honestly take a size 7 3/8 (sometimes in between that and a 7 1/2) So I’m pretty impressed that I got it to fit me lol. Still a little snug but if I do like you say and keep it in a stretcher when not wearing it, I think it’ll be fine. I actually love it. Love hats but always wanted a bowler since the first time I watched A Clockwork Orange lol. Thanks so much for all your help. Truly

You can’t get a hat that was made as a size 7 to “stretch” to a 7 3/8 or 7 1/2 without distorting the hat in all sorts of bad ways. I think this hat may have started out closer to your size. Looks great on you!

 

[mayserwegener]

Okay. So when I get home I’ll post some more detailed photos and I’ll post them to that thread. Would you just take those photos and transfer them to your website? That’d be really great!

That would be great. Yes I would transfer the photos to my website. Thanks!

 

[mayserwegener]

You can’t get a hat that was made as a size 7 to “stretch” to a 7 3/8 or 7 1/2 without distorting the hat in all sorts of bad ways. I think this hat may have started out closer to your size. Looks great on you!

Based on the paper label it looks to be 55 cm.

 

[Heart Felt]

You can’t get a hat that was made as a size 7 to “stretch” to a 7 3/8 or 7 1/2 without distorting the hat in all sorts of bad ways. I think this hat may have started out closer to your size. Looks great on you!

Thank you sir! Yeah you have to be right. It was probably a 7 1/8.

 

[Heart Felt]

That would be great. Yes I would transfer the photos to my website. Thanks!

That would be great. Yes I would transfer the photos to my website. Thanks!

Here’s a few photos from which you can choose. I’m not sure if you’ve already sent me a link to your website. Please do if you haven’t. Thank you for making me feel good about my purchase! Not too many fedora, bowler, homburg, etc... wearers where I’m from, so this love of hats, especially beautiful vintage ones, is truly a personal little obsession lol. It’s nice to come on here and see all the amazing hats and enthusiasts. It’s nice to know there are others ... like me. lol

 

[Heart Felt]

You can’t get a hat that was made as a size 7 to “stretch” to a 7 3/8 or 7 1/2 without distorting the hat in all sorts of bad ways. I think this hat may have started out closer to your size. Looks great on you!

By the way. I think it’s awesome that your profile pic is Arthur Hastings haha. I’m a huge Poirot fan!